Why Is One Piece the GOAT Anime

One piece is a phenomenal masterpiece following the thrilling rollercoaster adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates in the vast oceans. Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece, captured the hearts of many with the story’s jam-packed adventure, humor, plots, and action. 

Anime fandoms debate which anime is the greatest of all time (GOAT), is it Naruto or One Piece? This debate is subjective and not to mention controversial. As a fan of both, it’s both hurtful and surprising to say One Piece defeats Naruto in this GOAT debate. Without a doubt, One Piece is the greatest anime of all time and here’s why: 

Why Is One Piece the GOAT Anime

One Piece is the longest running anime

Starting off the list with a fact, One Piece is indeed the longest running anime. I often see anime fans complain about how good shows only have 13 episodes or 2 seasons. Of course, an anime’s length is not the sole basis of its quality as most long-running shows gradually lose quality. 

However, for One Piece, length and quality is not a problem as the anime is currently running with 1,064 episodes. It’s not even the best thing about this show. The show’s length makes you worry about quality but even with 1,064 episodes, it feels like it’s still not enough. The longer you watch this show, the more addicting it becomes.

Characters have diverse personalities, unique backstories, and great character developments

The reason I love One Piece is that the characters have diverse personalities, unique backstories, and great character developments. This is especially true with the Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy and his 10 crewmates possess different personalities, origins, and roles. Seeing your favorite characters—main protagonists, villains, or even supporting characters—develop and evolve is only possible in a long-running show. Characters in long-running anime often become irrelevant, but not in One Piece.

Watching this show grows on you emotionally because you get to see how every character develops, matures, and evolves. Eiichiro Oda makes sure that every character he introduces in the show are essential and unique on their own. Oda honors the character of villains as their existence is not premised on antagonizing Luffy and his crew. They possess goals and motivations of their own, some even want to become the Pirate King too.

One Piece is not main character-centered

What’s also interesting about One Piece is how Luffy, the main protagonist, is written. Despite being the main protagonist of the show, One Piece is not Luffy-centered. Just like the villains, the existence of Luffy’s crew is also not premised on Luffy and his dream as their captain. In the beginning, each crew member joined Luffy to achieve their personal dreams and aspirations. Deeper in the show, however, their dreams eventually intertwined with Luffy’s. 

Black Maria should worry about herself, honestly. pic.twitter.com/Cy3qjRgz3s

— One Piece (@OnePieceAnime) December 16, 2022

Throughout the anime, Oda shows how Luffy prioritizes his crew’s dreams and how his crew prioritizes his. Luffy became a pillar of hope, a reminder for his crew to keep on fighting. Moreover, it was shown that Luffy wouldn’t survive without his crew, no matter how strong he got. 

It shows a realistic journey in achieving a goal

Speaking of becoming stronger, Luffy’s path in becoming the King of the Pirates is not linear. The Straw Hat Pirates, despite being main protagonists, suffer defeat, personal failure, and even incapability. At some point in the show, the Straw Hat Pirates allied with other pirate crews to defeat a stronger enemy. This is a realistic depiction of a journey in achieving something. Oda made sure that the Straw Hat Pirates had a lot of room to grow and improve.

The story unravels relatable societal issues

Despite its seemingly light and humorous setting, One Piece tackles societal issues that are still relevant today. In their journey, the Straw Hat Pirates unveiled the twisted sense of justice of the World Government. They unearthed prominent societal issues that exists to this day such as discrimination, racism, slavery, historical revision, power-tripping, etc. This sets the Straw Hat Pirates to declare war with the World Government.

One Piece has the best world building

Oda set One Piece in the vast oceans which allowed him a wide array of options in world building. This premise alone is ingenious. What’s great about how Oda created One Piece is he didn’t let such an idea go to waste. Arcs are commonly distinguished by the change of islands. Despite introducing so many islands, Oda manages to create an island that’s entirely unique and distinct from each other. The most unique among the bunch are Water 7, the Fishman Island (an underwater island), and Skypeia (a sky island). He took his time in creating these islands that each of this island comes into the story perfectly.

Incredible and superb fight scenes

LUFFY IS SO COOL 🤩 pic.twitter.com/uvWguSzHk3

— One Piece (@OnePieceAnime) February 16, 2023

After celebrating its 25^th anniversary, it’s nostalgic to look back on how One Piece’s animation developed over time. The recent fight scenes in the anime broke the Internet as the fandom gush over its out-of-the-world animation. This what most nakamas, the show’s fandom, are excited about as Luffy’s Gear 5 will be animated by Warner Bros. One Piece fans feel emotional over the hype and success that the manga obviously deserves.

The story is rich with unforeseeable plot twists

Oda is popularly regarded as ‘God Oda’ due to his unpredictability and simply his mastermind behind such a wonderful manga. If there’s one thing to remember about Oda is that conspiracy theories are useless. There’s no way of knowing what cards Oda will play in every arc. Oda never fails to give the audience that ‘Oh, that’s why that happened!’ or ‘I can’t believe that happened!’ reaction every time. He uses every character and every arc and seams it effortlessly in the main story that’s why skipping an arc is not recommended!

Unpredictable ending

Even with the manga announcing its inevitable end in 2024, the ending remains unclear for everyone. What’s the fun in knowing how it’s going to end anyway? Despite having a clear storyline, Oda introduced several sub-stories that fans are waiting to happen. Oda’s unpredictability causes many lingering questions about One Piece and that’s what makes One Piece the GOAT anime.